Show dog dies after handler leaves her in hot car, officials say

Wendy and Mark Buterbaugh say it’s a pain they navigate daily after the life of their beloved dog Reign was tragically cut short.

“It’s hard,” Wendy Buterbaugh said. “I keep waiting for it to get better and it doesn’t.”

Reign, a decorated show dog at the age of 2, died in August 2025. Investigators said the dog was left in the back of a car on a hot summer day.

“Reign deserved more,” Wendy Buterbaugh said. “She mattered. She mattered not just in that show world, she mattered to us as a family member. She mattered.”

Carissa Shimpeno – the professional handler who the Buterbaughs hired to take care of Reign – is now facing charges. Before Reign’s death, Shimpeno had driven to her home in Chester County, Pennsylvania, after leaving a dog show to help her own dog give birth, according to the criminal complaint.

Shimpeno allegedly admitted to investigators that while she was inside the house, she had forgotten Reign was in the car and left her in the vehicle while the doors and windows were closed with no air conditioning. According to the criminal complaint, Shimpeno only realized Reign was still in the car when her husband came home hours later. By then, Reign was found unresponsive, investigators said.

“Some people are like, ‘She was only a dog.’ She was like a child to me,” Wendy Buterbaugh said. “She was everything. And I’m robbed of the best years of her life. And I get really mad when people call it an accident or a mistake. Because I feel choices went into it.”

The Pennsylvania SPCA (PSPCA) led the investigation into Reign’s death.

“Incredibly frustrating,” Courtney McGinn, the PSPCA’s Director of Humane Litigation, told NBC10. “It’s 100% preventable. While I do understand mistakes happen, there is no mistake when an animal is dead by the results of your inaction.”

Shimpeno is now facing animal cruelty and neglect charges.  

“You can’t just leave a dog in the back of a car,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said. “These charges reflect that she was at least reckless or negligent in her care of the animal and as a result, she is facing multiple misdemeanor counts because of that.”

NBC10 reached out to Shimpeno’s attorney for comment.

“The suggestion that Ms. Shimpeno acted with cruelty toward an animal she loved and nurtured is both painful and false,” the attorney wrote. “She has waived arraignment and looks forward to the opportunity to clear her name in court.”  

The American Kennel Club (AKC) confirmed to NBC10 that their own investigation into Reign’s death is concluded. They wrote in an email that their policy prevents them from announcing any disciplinary action until the appeal or trial board process is fully resolved if Shimpeno requests either option. Once the discipline is finalized, it will be made public.

Shimpeno has not been able to exhibit at AKC events or use any other AKC services since the incident.

“There needs to be accountability and that has to come from the AKC, the American Kennel Club,” Mark Buterbaugh said. “It should have never happened and I think raising the awareness of the safety and concern of these dogs is critical.”

It’s become a mission for the Buterbaughs along with Reign’s breeders, Colleen Nicholson and Cindy Kelso.

“So we can prevent another dog going through this,” Nicholson said. “Because anyone that owns a dog has to be able to put their dog in Reign’s situation.”

They also created bracelets reminding people to take their pets out of cars during extreme heat.

“If Reign can save one life, it means that her death will mean something instead of just tragedy,” Wendy Buterbaugh said. “If she can save just one.”